Today I received two books. It made my day.
I knew they would arrive today and I paid for them, but really, a new book is always like a Christmas gift to me. I open the mailbox, standing on tiptoe because it is the top row of mailboxes, which always makes me feel like a kid. And there it is: the ugly, battered cardboard parcel waiting for me. It always looks as if it was dragged through the whole country, but all I care about is that the books are safe inside. I start tearing at it on my way back up, in the elevator. Usually, by the fourth floor -- where my appartment is -- the cardboard is nearly in shreds. My attitude would make more sense with, say a long-awaited letter from a friend. But books I ordered ?
I knew they would arrive today and I paid for them, but really, a new book is always like a Christmas gift to me. I open the mailbox, standing on tiptoe because it is the top row of mailboxes, which always makes me feel like a kid. And there it is: the ugly, battered cardboard parcel waiting for me. It always looks as if it was dragged through the whole country, but all I care about is that the books are safe inside. I start tearing at it on my way back up, in the elevator. Usually, by the fourth floor -- where my appartment is -- the cardboard is nearly in shreds. My attitude would make more sense with, say a long-awaited letter from a friend. But books I ordered ?
2 comments:
I know exactly what you mean. Whenever I order books I wind up obsessively checking Amazon.ca's tracking page, counting the seconds 'til Canada Post gets here. I think the funniest part about it all is that I'll rush to open the box, flip through the book and glance at a few pages, but then I have to put it on the shelf next to all the other books that are waiting for Christmas break before I get a chance to really read them. I got lucky with my latest book purchase--Neil Gaiman's _Fragile Things_--since it's a short-story collection, so I can slip in a new short-story every now and then between my readings for class.
Enjoy the books!
Thanks!
I failed to mention the obsessive checking on the internet, but of course I do that too. What I do also is I read the first page, and then I put it away. Or should, anyway. Right now, _Midnight's Children_ is on my bedside, and I only open it when I'm exhausted and I know I won't be able to read it for long. But I can't bring myself to put it on the shelf just yet.
I have checked _Fragile Things_ on Amazon, it sounds good! I hope you'll tell us a bit about it on your blog.
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